The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is [...]
The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because it was and is not and is to come. —Revelation 17.8 (ESV)
and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.
—Revelation 13.8 (ESV)
These two scriptures appear to play out the “divine election,” the cause celebré for high-brow theologians and unspeakable horror for countless others. This doctrine, all hinged on the phrase “from the foundation of the world,” (apo kataboles kosmou – ἀπο καταβολης κοσμου in the Greek) says that if God didn’t jot your name down in the book of life before even the start of creation, you’re already condemned—eternally—to the lake of fire outside of heaven’s gates. And this is true no matter what your testimony of Jesus might be.
“Billy Graham? Uh . . . no. I don’t see a Billy Graham here. Sorry.”
“And you? Mother what? How do you spell that? No . . . we have a Sister Theresa, fourteenth century, but no Mother. Off to the lake wit’cha.”
“Okay. Yes. Yes. I understand. Yes, confessed him as Lord. At the church. Yes. Bible school teacher. Yes, I know. Beheaded for sharing Jesus with the Muslims. Yes, we all know that. But the book is the book.”
Despite the relative heinous nature of such a doctrine, some preachers seem to revel in it.
It is as if to say, God had taken out an insurance policy before creating mankind. It is a fully comprehensive insurance policy that pays for all damages no matter what, and even promises to restore back as new. . . . The main strength of the insurance (just like any normal insurance policy) is that it is taken out before the incident. —The Living Word Library, article
When the verse is carefully studied and all things considered, it becomes clear that God is speaking about the ‘eternal election of Grace,’ which spans time. Note that God is defining those unsaved who do not have their names written in the Lamb’s book of Life. This ‘book of Life’ signifies that God’s record of those who will be regenerated or raised up unto new life in Christ. In Him are these saints under the immutable purpose of God for his Elect. —Tony Warren, Revelation 13
The Eternal Election of Grace. John speaks of ‘the book of life’ and those whose names are not written in it. There is a book in which the names of God’s elect are registered and have been registered “from the foundation of the world.” This book is called “The Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Rev. 21.27). . . . The election of grace took place, and the names of God’s elect were inscribed in the Lamb’s Book of Life from the foundation of the world. . . . Divine election is altogether the work of God’s eternal sovereign grace, which was given to chose sinners in Christ before the world began.
The Eternal Redemption of God’s Elect by Christ. Our Savior is described as “the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.” In those words the Holy Spirit tells us that redemption was virtually accomplished for all the chosen before the world began. . . . God the Father is said to have sacrificed his Son for the redemption of his people before the world began. —Don Fortner, Revelation 21
And if these guys don’t rev up your redemption mojo, here’s the eminent John Piper’s take on the book:
Let’s begin with Revelation 13.8. John writes, “All who dwell on earth will worship [the beast], everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain.” That is a good, careful, literal translation. This means that before the world was created there was a book called the “book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” The Lamb is Jesus Christ crucified. The book is the book of Jesus Christ crucified. Therefore, before God made the world he had in view Jesus Christ slain, and he had in view a people purchased by his blood written in the book. —John Piper, The Suffering of Christ and the Sovereignty of God
According to Piper, God didn’t just have a view of a people purchased by the blood, he was taking names. And he fortifies this cutthroat schema by calling his rendition of Revelation 13.8 a “good, careful, literal translation.”
But it’s not.
The First Clue
The whole clapboard of Piper’s damn-some-of-them-guys doctrine hinges on “from the foundation of the world” as a mark of time—the moment when God made his election of just who to save and who to damn. At first glance, he looks to be right on the money; every translation that you can find—anywhere—translates apo kataboles kosmou (ἀπο καταβολης κοσμου) as “before [or from] the foundation of the world” as a mark of time (NKJV, NASB, The Message, ESV, Young’s Literal Translation, TNIV, and even my beloved Rotherham). And not only that, but every nerdy Greek lexicon seems to back him up; translating kataboles as foundation or even creation:
Louw & Nida: creation, particularly of the world, with focus on the beginning phase
BDAG: foundation, readily connected with the idea of founding is the sense beginning
Thayer: a foundation (laying down a foundation)
NAS Greek: a foundation
NIDNTT: Foundation of the world with the term foundation, used absolutely, have become fixed expressions for the point where historical dates are reckoned. When God’s free activity is dated before this point in time (pro kataboles kosmou) . . . the purpose is to declare the independence of God’s providence from the absolute beginning which he himself set and from history.
So even with a second glance, Piper’s good and careful translation looks squeaky clean; you may, in fact, be damned if you don’t and damned if you do (that’s a Yikes!). But the first clue that it’s off (read: including his whole theological structure) is found in Hebrews 6.1. There, we see both kataboles and foundation, but they aren’t one and the same:
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying (root- kataboles) again the foundation (themelion) of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God —Hebrews 6.1 (KJV)
Themelion is “foundation”; kataboles is used in its participle form for “laying” or “laying down.” That brings to mind a couple of questions: Why is themelion used for foundation if kataboles is the real word for it? And if kataboles means “laying down” here, why wouldn’t the same meaning apply in Revelation 13.8 (and the other “from the foundation of the world” scriptures)?
Another One?
The second clue demonstrating that Piper’s good translation is bad is found in the Old Testament, specifically in the LXX. The LXX, or Septuagint, is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Masoretic texts that was completed well before the time of Christ. Many of the NT writers relied upon it in their letters, so it should be safe to assume that the LXX’s meanings for words carried over to books like Revelation and Matthew.
It’s surprising that Piper is so sure of his translation (and consequent doctrine), because it’s not supported—not a single instance—in the LXX. In fact, while none of the LXX’s 70 translators used kataboles as foundation or creation, they did use it exactly the same way we see it in Hebrews, as a laying or bringing down of an object. Four examples:
And they came and besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and they cast up a bank against the city, and it stood in the trench: and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down. —2 Samuel 20.15
And ye shall smite every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall fell every good tree, and stop all wells of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones. –2 Kings 3.19
The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. —Psalm 37.14
And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. —Ezekiel 6.4
And if these four weren’t enough, here are a few more: 2 Kings 3.25 (take down); 2 Kings 6.5 (fell down); 2 Kings 19.7 (fall down); 2 Chronicles 32.21 (cut down); Job 16.14 (break down); Psalm 73.18 (throw down), 106.26 (overthrow), 106.27 (overthrow), 140.11 (bring down), Proverbs 7.26 (cast down), 18.8 (go down), 25.28 (bring down), Jeremiah 19.7 (bring down), Ezekiel 23.25 (bring down), 26.9 (bring down), 32.12 (bring down), 33.4 (bring down), 39.3 (bring down).
One More? You Can’t Be Serious
The next clue takes us back to the New Testament. Besides Hebrews, there are other verses that use kataboles or its derivative without any reference to foundation:
Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed —2 Corinthians 4.9
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. —Revelation 12.10
Okay, Make Him Stop
For Revelation 13.8, some translations translate the phrase from the foundation of the world, while others prefer Piper’s before. The Greek word being translated is the little preposition apo. True, apo is usually used to denote away from, but like a lot of words, it has different nuances of meaning depending upon the context. When we go back to those nerdy Greek lexicons, we can see a nuanced meaning that readily fits with the meanings of katabole that we see in the LXX, 2 Corinthians 4:9, and Revelation 12.10:
Louw & Nida: marker of instrument which serves as source of information or reason or implied event
BDAG: to indicate responsible agents for something, to indicate the reason for something
Thayer: of causal origin, the cause on account of which anything is done
NAS Greek: because of
NIDNTT: (no entry)
And for all you Greeksters out there, this meaning fits perfectly with the genitive construction of world (for the rest of you read: This is just the icing on the cake.).
The Better, Careful, Literal Translation
So, where’s does all that leave us with these two verses? Here’a better, careful, literal Zerubbabelean rendition of each:
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship [the beast], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb, slain because of the felling of the world. —Revelation 13.8
The beast that thou saw was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life because of the felling of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. —Revelation 17.8
Yes, felling is kind of an odd word these days, but it fits exactly with the idea that the world was knocked down (Jesus came to destroy the one who holds the power of death) . If you don’t care for felling, you could substitute the falling of the world, the bringing down of the world or the casting down of the world (even the smacking down of the world would work, hence the title). See how this translation fits with all the rest of the foundation-of-the-world scriptures:
That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret since the casting down of the world. —Matthew 13.35
Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the felling of the world —Matthew 25.34
That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed since the falling down of the world, may be required of this generation —Luke 11.50
Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the casting down of the world. —John 17.24
According as he hath chosen us in him before the felling of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: —Ephesians 1.4
For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished since the casting down of the world. —Hebrews 4.3
For then must he often have suffered because of the falling down of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. —Hebrews 9.26
Who verily was foreordained before the smacking down of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you — 1 Peter 1.20 (had to thrown it in there)
And, best of all, this treatment is consistent with the unabashed truth that God desires that everybody, not just Piper’s few, be saved (1 Timothy 2.4).
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